r/SecularTarot

Like most people on this sub, I use tarot as a way to make sense of my own thoughts and to help myself come up with new ways of looking at a situation - but there have been a couple of times recently when my cards seemed weirdly aligned with something that ended up happening in the near future. I don’t believe that the cards can predict the future, but I do think it’s an interesting coincidence when this happens!

(Also, disclaimer that I still use a book to help me read the cards. I’m trying to get better at reading the cards without it, but for now, it’s helpful!)

Example: Recently, I drew an inverted Four of Swords, which I interpret as a need for rest or a short period of illness. I wasn’t sure what to make of that, so I reshuffled and drew a second card…and got another inverted Four of Swords. I don’t think I’d ever drawn the same card twice in a row before. The next morning, I woke up with a cold.

Example 2: Last night, I drew a card to help me make sense of a falling-out I had with a friend a few months ago. I drew the Empress, which I interpret as an influence from an older woman like a mother or grandmother. Again, I wasn’t sure what to make of it - both my grandmothers are dead, and I’m close with my mom but she’s not really involved with the situation at hand (nor are any of my relatives, really). Then today, I got a text from my friend’s grandmother, who I’m casually in touch with but hadn’t heard from since before the falling-out.

Again, I don’t believe that these were signs from the universe or anything, but I do think that these kinds of stories are cool. Has anything like this ever happened to you?

It’s called Open Constellation: a metaphor-based reflection deck where the meaning is not fixed in the card. You draw one card, notice what it stirs, then choose three more cards by felt pull. The insight comes from the pattern you create, not from memorizing definitions or being told what the cards “really” mean.

The part I’m most excited about: after you’ve already done the reflection work, the app can optionally distill the reading into a new emergent card born from your constellation. So the deck starts with a shared symbolic language, but it can grow through actual use.

Very much built for a secular / reflective / journaling style rather than prediction.

I’d genuinely love feedback from people here, especially on:

- whether the process feels meaningfully different from regular tarot/oracle use

- whether the “emergent card” idea feels compelling or too much

- whether the tone feels open enough

You can try it here: openconstellation.ca

If anyone tests it, I’d be very curious what card constellation you got and whether it felt like the app held the process well.

Hi everyone, Im trying to get back into learning tarot for the millionth time but I always seem to get myself so overwhelmed with learning. I know the basics, element/suit ect. Retaining information like all the different meaning for every card can be abit of a pest for me especially when I’m using a spread and trying to link it all in as a story. Did you start with structure like tackling minor arcana’s first in methodical way?

I have a library of the got to tarot but at the moment Ive been rewatching a Udemy course Sal Jade to try to work on remembering it all. But I’m finding writing down stream of meanings is overloading my brain

I appreciate any insight from people who like intuitive based with abit of structure

I just finished this paradigmatic book feeling a mix of surprise, amusement and satisfaction.

The RWS is my deck of choice and this seemed like a fair place to start (and yes, I was aware its language and references might be a bit difficult). I didn't expect the book to be this funny. Throughout the whole book, Waite disses and throws shade at every single Tarot scholar before him, in very flowery language. He debunks the prevailing theories on Tarot historicity, disdains fortune-telling (while reluctantly listing every divinatory card meaning) and explains his choices on the creation of his own deck like a starred chef humoring a starving person by making them the best burger ever.

One of the best parts of the book is his interpretation on the Major Arcana, apparently the only part of the Tarot worth injecting 'higher symbolism' as he understood it (of course users of this sub probably know Waite boasted many esoteric societies' memberships). Waite proceeds to drop hints about these mystical symbols while telling the reader they have absolutely no business understanding much of it if they don't already know what he's talking about. He also mocks a bunch of very familiar interpretations as downright plebeian, like the Star signifying hope. I don't think a lot of Tarot enthusiasts are reading this. The guy's sass is off the charts and he refuses to elaborate.

Anyway I look forward to rereading parts of this, I got a very pretty edition by Rider.

What did you think of it?

Beyond Rider–Waite:

I am interested in exploring other systems Lenormand, oracle decks, or anything else. In your experience, which ones tend to give more accurate and clear answers?

Offering a deep, intuitive, erotically charged tarot reading designed to uncover the why, how, and what next behind your desire.

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Hello everyone ! I found this group today and I am very interested in what it has to offer. I am interested in getting back into tarot but removing every spiritual aspect from it because while I do enjoy reading tarot, my OCD plagues me and I’m convinced something bad will happen to me if I read tarot or that I have to give up some energy in exchange for an answer from the cards and many other intrusive beliefs. That being said, I want to get back into tarot as a form of exposure therapy for my OCD but I do want to remove the spiritual aspect of it because I feel as though that would be best for me mentally. I also wanted to ask if it’s possible to be religious while keeping the cards secular ? I identify as a Christian but I want to view the cards from a secular perspective so I can expose myself to these kinds of triggers. Would you guys recommend doing this at all? If not, feel free to explain why ! I also wanted to know if anyone else is using secular tarot as a form of exposure therapy. Thanks so much for reading and have a wonderful day/night :)

I asked the tarot cards " how does it see my intention to occasionally take a medium dose of psychedelics and then mainly dance and explore intuitive somatic movement

The 1st card. 8 of wands

2nd card. The tower

3rd card. Death

I'm a novice, so far my understanding is that the 1st card is about motion or movement, dance?

the tower is saying some kind of crutch I have been relying on might break and the death card is saying I will not be the same afterwards

some context i have CPTSD from childhood abuse, dancing and movement in general have been majorly healing for me, psychedelics have also been powerfully healing for me though I approach them with deep respect.

i cannot afford to pay for any therapy sessions right now

How would you interpret these cards?

thank you!! 🙏

Hi there, I'm still learning the tarot deck, and giving myself daily readings, which I've found hugely interesting (I'm just doing simple one card readings to set my intention for each day). I'm just trying to clarify, in my own head, what the benefit of the exercise is, beyond the fact that I find it interesting and enjoyable.

When I draw a card, I don't believe that the universe is shuffling my deck in order to give me a message, with the message revealed through that particular card. I do believe that when I see the card, I have an emotional reaction to its meaning, and this emotional reaction, or whatever comes to mind in response to the particular card, is informative. For example, my girlfriend told me a few days ago that she was stressed, and ahead of talking to her that afternoon, I drew the Queen of Cups. This made me reflect on how I should be caring and supportive in my call with her. I don't think the universe was telling me to be supportive, but the card made me think about her and how I could be caring and supportive when I spoke with her. When I drew the card, my thoughts went straight to her, and the fact that I could note my thoughts going in that direction was informative. Don't get me wrong- I would have been caring and supportive to her either way! But my reaction to the card made me more mindful of her in that particular moment.

To me, this seems analogous to the inkblot Rorschach test, where patients are shown ink blots that are not intended to resemble anything. What they 'see' in the ink blots is the real value, as the patient's interpretation is reflective of their own mental state rather than any inherent meaning that exists within the ink blots. The Queen of Cups was my 'ink blot' of that particular day, and the fact my thoughts went to my girlfriend were reflective of my mental state as I made the draw.

Is this generally how people in the secular tarot community feel about tarot cards? Does anybody else here have any other anti-realist understandings of how they relate to their cards? Alternatively, do you think what I just explained is a load of bullshit? As I learn and develop an understanding of tarot, I'm keen to hear a variety of different perspectives!